


Cookie by the Ocean

by Arlene0401



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Teachers, Attempt at Humor, Love/Hate, M/M, Originally Posted on Tumblr, ambivalent feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-04
Updated: 2018-04-04
Packaged: 2019-04-18 10:52:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14211579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arlene0401/pseuds/Arlene0401
Summary: Middle school teacher Levi hates the teaching assistant who's been dropped into his lap. Really, really hates him.... or doesn't he?





	Cookie by the Ocean

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Zhigard](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zhigard/gifts).



> for my love and treasure [noenoh](http://noenoh.tumblr.com) who gifted me with [this amazing art](http://glassesgirl0401.tumblr.com/post/172421995284/zeke-and-levi-a-gift-by-my-lovely-and-talented).

“Really, Jaeger? Fucking _cookies_ for everyone? What are you, fucking Martha Stewart?”

“Language, Mr Ackerman,” Zeke chided mildly with a nod towards the approaching children, and Levi could have throttled him right there and then, two dozen witnesses be damned.

Saying that Levi hated his teaching assistant with the intensity of a thousand suns would be an understatement. He had never asked for one, he had never wanted one. And yet the principal had thought it a brilliant idea to team him up with this German wannabe teacher for “cultural exchange”. Levi thought the cultural exchange in his class was going just fine without the addition of Schiller readings and donut - no, sorry: Ber-lee-ner - bakeouts.

But what was worse, much much worse than having his calm and comfortable routine turned upside down, was that the students _liked_ this bespectacled clown. Levi was the coolest teacher of Stohess middle school, hell yes. Leather jackets and aviator shades cool. Moreover he was strict but fair, and generally agreed to be the best liked of staff. Until this, this _buffoon_ with his neat button downs and metal rimmed glasses, his heavy accent and corduroy pants came waltzing in. Everything about him was plain and boring and painfully _bourgeois_ , all things that Levi was decidedly not. And yet the children loved him, loved him even better than Levi - and that was simply unforgivable.

Everything that Zeke did or said drove Levi up the wall. How he painstakingly arranged his sharpened pencils on the desk, how he wrinkled his nose in an effort to push up his glasses, how he scratched the back of his head when he pondered over a question - what a disgusting habit - and yes, Levi had never encountered someone who took his sweet time like this in answering simple questions, like how hard could it be to decide whether to have tea or coffee for lunch break? Icebergs melted, continents drifted while this jerk let Levi stand there, empty cup in hand, until he was ready to just shove it down his throat.

Levi couldn’t even tell why he zeroed in on his teaching assistant like this in morbid fascination. It would have been much better for his peace of mind to try and ignore him as best as he could. But no, he found his eyes glued to Zeke’s beard while he idly wondered just how many germs and mites would be festering in this unhygienic dust trap and just how gross it would be to come anywhere near it. Found himself drawn to those fleshy lips that, to his taste, looked unattractive as hell, so why did he even linger on them?

Trust Zeke to do something unbearably quaint like bringing homemade, mermaid-shaped cookies to a beach excursion where the children were supposed to collect shells and sketch animals and plants. Levi walked a short distance and moped in the shadow of a boulder while Zeke was surrounded by grateful students enjoying snacks. He sat down with his back to the boulder, faced away from the others and tried to find some solace in the fresh breeze.

Scrunching pebbles announced someone coming to disturb his solitude, so he mustered up a less murderous face in case it was one of the students. Much to his chagrin, it was Zeke, holding out a mermaid cookie like a peace offering. Levi stared at the cookie, and his traitorous stomach chose this exact moment to grumble loudly. With a defeated sigh, he snatched the treat from Zeke’s hand and bit into it.

Apparently taking this as an invitation, Zeke sat down next to him. Levi munched and glared. The cookie was delicious, it was crisp and just the right amount of chewy, it was infuriatingly perfect.

Under his withering glare, Zeke started fidgeting. He had crumbs in his beard, and Levi’s stomach swooped in a sensation that he refused to call anything other than disgust. For a second he wondered what Zeke would look like if he was clean-shaven, and the result his mental eye provided was… disturbing. If possible, his stare became even more murderous.

"Mr Ackerman, if I was in any way disrespectful I sincerely want to -”

Zeke’s helpless apology stopped mid-ramble as Levi leaned forward and brushed the crumbs off his beard with his fingers.

"You should consider shaving, Zeke. No one wants to kiss a shrubbery like that,” Levi said and, without waiting for an answer, got up and ambled down to the shore to inspect the children’s work.


End file.
